Daniel Fells, who could lose his foot with a MRSA infection, gets the game ball from Sunday night.
Tom Coughlin stepped to the podium following his team's 30-27 victory over the 49ers Sunday night and wasted no words expressing relief in picking up a win in a game that was dedicated to ailing tight end Daniel Fells.
"Thank God we were able to get him a game ball," Coughlin said. "That was some football game there tonight."
Fells, 32, missed the game as he stayed in a local hospital to be treated for a MRSA infection. He has been hospitalized for more than a week, and Coughlin last visited the veteran in his room Saturday at 7:30 a.m. Coughlin noted that Fells was keeping his spirits up, sitting upright, with his wife, and smiling at the time. He was placed on injured reserve last week, and tight end Larry Donnell believed that Fells was watching him from afar as he caught the game-winning touchdown in the back of the end zone with 26 seconds left against the 49ers.
"To have a guy from his room come up there and make that catch at the end of the game," Coughlin said, "that was incredible."
Coughlin and the team dedicated the game to Fells beforehand. Fells, now in his eighth season, had offered the offense a veteran presence as he caught six balls for 60 yards in the season's first three games. He was the best all-around option at tight end, solid in blocking and receiving. Coughlin noted that Fells had his first full night's sleep Friday into Saturday, and that he slept well again the next night.
MRIs had come back clean in recent days. The NFL Network previously reported he underwent multiple surgeries on his foot.